"Hi, your thoughts are very interesting :). So, what would be your approach if the younger one gets upset and starts to hit the elder one? It happens to me for half a year already and mind you neither the mom nor dad lay their hands on the children during discipline time." - Anonymous commented on "Siblings - preparing for the new sibling", 29 October 2013.

I did not know how to respond to this comment because I do not know how old the two siblings are, in particular how old the younger one is. It's quite a different thing to manage a young toddler compared to say, a pre-schooler. I can only speak from my own experience with Ryan and Rachel. Ryan is four plus now (I refuse to acknowledge that he is turning five soon) and Rachel is 16.5 months old.

I also do not know in what circumstances the hitting occurs. Obviously, different responses would be needed for different situations.

The reader commented anonymously, so I was not able to get more details. Perhaps he/she will see this post and fill in the blanks.

In any event, I thought that it would be a good idea to open a small group discussion here. Do you have any thoughts to share on this? I know we have a small little community here and I know every parent has his/her own unique experience to share. I do have some thoughts on this, which I will share too.